


We Were Kids Together

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Robin Hood (Disney 1973)
Genre: Childhood, F/M, Historical, Minor Character Death, Pre-Canon, Yuletide, Yuletide 2012
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-19
Updated: 2012-12-19
Packaged: 2017-11-21 13:25:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/598254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Hey, remember me? We were kids together. Will you marry me?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Were Kids Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [betony](https://archiveofourown.org/users/betony/gifts).



> Thanks so much to Nary for the historical help, and Starsair for the beta! Any remaining mistakes/inaccuracies are mine!

Robin bowed deeply to the King as his mother had taught him and held the pose.

"Rise, young Robin," Richard declared, his deep, melodious voice echoing around the chamber.

Obeying, Robin stood tall, knowing that his friend behind him was doing the same. Technically, as a Baron's son, Robin shouldn't have been friends with a peasant like Little John, but as the only other young male his age in the Barony proper, it had been hard to keep them apart.

"What brings you before me, young Robin?" Richard asked. It was a formality, as the King already must have heard the news, but it was still Robin's duty to report it.

Clearing his throat, Robin declared, "I have come to inform you that my father, Baron Robert of Shelford, has been killed in action on the Northumberland front."

Robin had never met his father as the reynard had been patrolling and negotiating at Northumberland since he was just a cub. Surely the King's messengers had reported the outbreak of fighting and the death of the Fox Lord to His Majesty long before their family servant had made it back to Shelford.

But still, protocol dictated that Robin, as the new Baron – in name at least, as his father's steward had run the lands for years – be the one to deliver the news

King Richard looked thoughtful, but he didn't appear upset at Robin's even tone, as Robin had half expected. At home, it had been something of a scandal that he had wept no tears, but here at court, things were different. If the King did not affect a deep sorrow, then he would not be expected to either. Though his mother and the rest of the Barony were in deep mourning, Robin was largely unaffected by this stranger's death.

"Has your mother given you any other instructions?" the King asked.

"Yes," Robin replied, grateful for the framework laid out for him from here on out. "She begs your kindness that I may be allowed to serve at court, to learn the ways of a courtier so that I may follow in my father's footsteps."

King Richard nodded gravely and then declared, "Very well. You will now be a page of the realm. Arrangements will be made for you and your companion." He beckoned and two servant turkeys stepped forward. Robin nodded politely as they escorted Little John away. He was extremely grateful that custom permitted him to bring a personal servant, because it allowed him to bring his best friend. They had never been separated for very long in their lives, and though the distinctions in their class had never been important between them, it was great luck that those very distinctions now kept them together.

His attention was brought back to the King when the lion cleared his throat. "As a page, you will be taught swordsmanship, archery, music, and literature. If you progress at a satisfactory level you will be elevated to a squire, at which point you will be matched with a courtier or knight who can mentor you in the fields in which you particularly excel. If you are then found to be a suitable student and a valuable addition to the realm, you will be elevated to knighthood, at which point you will be a fitting Baron for your people, as your father was before you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Robin responded. He had been told all of this already, including how to respond, but somehow the words sunk into his brain with more gravitas when declared in this austere chamber in the King's own castle.

"Marian, my dear," the King called. Robin looked up and saw a young vixen emerge from behind one of the stone columns.

"Yes, uncle?" she asked quietly.

Robin's heart began to beat wildly in his chest at the sight of her and he was afraid for a moment that he might fall over. He barely heard the King say, "Robin, this is Marian of Wessex. Her mother, the Duchess, is my sister, but she is indisposed at the moment."

"Marian, this is Robin of Shelford," the King explained. "He is newly come to the castle and will be staying here for quite a while. While your mother is gone, would you please show him around the grounds, my dear?" he asked. "And perhaps into the village as well?"

"Yes, Uncle," she replied, giving a graceful curtsey.

As she looked over her shoulder at Robin, her veil was drawn across her face, obscuring it. Her eyes twinkled coyly as she murmured, "Would you follow me please, Robin of Shelford?"

Robin hastened after her, needing no second urging. "You may call me simply Robin, My Lady," he offered.

  


By the end of the summer, it had become a common sight around the castle and village of Nottingham; Robin and Marian playing together, often with their servants in tow. Klucky was much like her own mother, who was usually stern and yet willing to give the children treats and surprises. However, the young chicken also had a wild streak that everyone joking declared she had inherited from her father. John had yet to grow into the formidable size of his family legacy, but everyone in Nottingham also agreed that this was simply a matter of time.

Meanwhile, Robin was delighted to discover that Marian was fearless. Often she scampered along the battlements right alongside him, squeezing into places that Klucky and Little John refused to go. It might have been something about them being foxes, though Robin knew of a few older members of his family who would never have done such daring things. They scurried along the curtain wall, and snuck inside the suits of armor in the grand hall.

Marian had lessons on deportment and being ladylike while Robin was learning fencing, swordplay, and archery, but she loved to watch him practice afterwards, cheering as he defeated his imaginary foes. Klucky sometimes sparred with him, reasoning that if she was going to protect Marian when they were older, she was going to need to know how to fight.

One night they snuck into the village when there was a wrestling match. The match was fascinating, but the ensuing brawl that broke out at the betting table was even more so, and Klucky proudly boasted of learning a few new moves that night.

Robin even had a chance to meet the King's brother, John, who was only a few years older than himself. Appearing rather sickly, the younger lion mostly kept to his secluded section of the castle, with his creepy snake friend, but on the few occasions that their paths crossed, Robin felt the hackles on the back of his neck rise.

Eventually the summer ended, and the court returned to London for the winter. Mere days after arriving in the huge city, Robin received word that his mother had died - of heartbreak - according to the messenger cat. He and Little John hurried home for the funeral, and were then trapped there by the winter snows and floods. Robin learned much from his father's steward about feeding his people that winter, and he also saw much suffering in the villages of the Barony. He distributed what he could from the keep's stores, but he knew that if the next summer's harvest was not extremely plentiful he would not have enough to make up the difference again.

Once the roads became clear again, Robin and Little John returned to Nottingham, and the court arrived soon after. The summer was spent in much the same whirlwind of lessons and games as before, with the four young animals becoming practically inseparable.

As the winter winds began to chill, though, a pox began to spread throughout the larger cities. It only seemed to affect foxes and wolves, and so the court decided to remain at the more secluded summer keep for the time being. Marian's parents, who were still in London, both fell ill and soon Robin found himself comforting the heartbroken vixen. He did the best he could, in his own clumsy way, trying to recall what had helped him the winter before. Her grief over her father stirred him a little, and he made a silent promise to himself that he would never abandon his own kits.

Weeks and months and eventually years passed as the four young animals grew up. Marian was sent off to school in London to become a proper lady. Robin was, by now, a squire, and well known throughout the castle and the rest of Nottinghamshire. Little John was equally known, always at his side. They had befriended many of the lower class citizens in the town; people that Little John met on his errands, and the Friar who ran the church which they all attended mass every Sunday.

With Marian and Klucky gone to school, Robin threw himself into his studies. He told Little John that it was because she wasn't around to distract him, but deep down he knew the real reason. He refused to admit that he missed her, however, even to himself. Even to his best friend.

He finally found himself unable to contain his emotions, and just weeks shy of receiving his knighthood he made his way to the small chapel in Nottingham. Friar Tuck listened thoughtfully as he poured his heart out. King Richard was riding out to war soon, to the very thing that had killed his father. Not the exact same thing, of course, because his father had been slain in a territorial dispute with a neighboring realm and the King was going crusading in a faraway land, but still the prospective of his monarch in battles worried the young reynard. Robin admitted that he cared more about the King's safety than about his own father's death. He confessed his small relief that he was considered too young and green to be sent on the crusades as well. He admitted that the King's younger brother, John, whom he had rarely met, gave him an uncomfortable feeling. He admitted that he was concerned that John would be in charge, and that the younger lion would make a bad replacement king. He confessed his fears about his impending knighthood and his ability to run the Barony.

And he finally confessed his feelings for Marian. He was unsure of how she felt about him, because her letters had drifted off as the war had picked up. He finally whispered that he wasn't sure if she would even remember him by the time he got back or have forgotten him in the face of someone new and better. What if she had met a Duke and upon returning saw Robin as only the page he had once been? As only the potential ruler of an impoverished Barony on the outskirts of the Kingdom?

What if she didn't love him back?

He couldn't admit such soul-tearing questions to his best friend, even, but to a kindly old badger sworn to keep his secrets he finally poured out his fears and confusion.

The Friar reassured him that these were the normal worries for an adolescent reynard in his position, and suggested that if he just did his best at all times, all would be well. Richard was sure to survive the crusades, and in the meantime animals like Robin and Little John would take care of things here at home. He simply needed to do what he was told and protect the animals that King Richard left behind.

Feeling much better, Robin left the chapel and returned to the castle, where the King's preparations were almost done.

  


It was barely noticeable at first: a complaint here, an unreasonable demand there. Taxes were raised a little more aggressively than before, but then there was a war on. John was fussy and demanding, and his servant creepy, but then Richard had been exceedingly kind and easy-going for a King, so of course there would be a bit of an adjustment.

It wasn't until the full force of winter hit that the villages in Nottinghamshire began to really suffer. Food stores that had been full in autumn were suddenly half empty with no explanation. Taxes shot up without warning; new, fierce guards were brought in from other areas of the kingdom, and a new sheriff was put in power. Robin tried to confront Prince John about it, but he never made it past Hiss. (Robin refused to call the snake 'Sir', as it was a title he claimed, rather than one he had earned in knightly trials).

As the mood in Nottinghamshire began to change, Robin found himself less and less comfortable in the castle. He spent most of his time in the village, trying to help the local animals collect what food they could from the forest to bolster their small reserves. He helped shore up weak, drafty homes, and generally did what he could.

One night, when he and Little John returned to the castle, they found the portcullis down. The guard on duty was nowhere to be seen and Robin eventually found their belongings floating in the moat. Understanding perfectly what Prince John had done, Robin scoffed and exchanged glances with Little John.

“Well, I’d say it's time we did something about this phony king.”


End file.
